Critical Environmental Considerations in Commercial Real Estate Transactions

Material environmental liabilities can present both opportunities and challenges in commercial real estate transactions. This course, presented by Karl Heisler, a partner with Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, offers a cost-effective approach designed to identify and mitigate these liabilities through tailored due diligence, a calculated negotiating strategy, and federal and state tax incentives and liability protections.

This intermediate-level course will provide deal lawyers with practical tips to navigating these critical environmental considerations. Viewers are assumed to have a basic, working knowledge of environmental and workplace safety law, including the transactional defenses in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. The course introduces some perspective on the role environmental concerns play within the overall deal, and highlights some of the common mistakes that befall deal lawyers contending with these concerns.

Learning Objectives:

1. Explore how to scope the environmental due diligence effort most cost-effectively, while mitigating environmental risk
2. Recognize the key environmental provisions in purchase and sale agreements, and understand how they will frame deal negotiations
3. Assess the availability of Brownfields tax incentives and liability protections, with a focus on five state programs: Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio
4. Appreciate the overall economics of the deal and the associated negotiating leverage to address environmental liabilities